The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-01-29

unmOVeu bnrOu2n the reading OF the Will,
which, after providing for his mother,
and specifying certain small legacies to
friends and relatives, went on as follows:
"And / give and bequeath to my son
Preston's betrothed wife, Mary Alexand-
or all the residue of my property, to be
held by her inalienably until her death,
in case of which event, it shall pass into
the hands OF trustees, hereafter mention
ed, said property, of whatever nature, to
be forfeited by her on any attempt to
transfer it to my son, Preston Temple"
1t was Aunt Minerva, whose own lega-
cy was no compensation for the outrage
inflicted on her favorite nephew, who
spread through the village the fact
that, practically, he was disinherited, and
that somebody was responsible, leaving
it to be inferred that the somebody
must necessarily be Miss Alexander
herself. Never had feeling run SO high.
The tempest ragged in the Templeville
teapot, till 9 split nearly took place,
and it went SO far that Aunt Minerva
herself felt that measures must be TAX
en- to restore quiet, and spent the rest
of her days in trying to bring mat
tiers to the level at which she had found
them. But the formula she adopted
"After all, the Judge had a right to do
what he pleased with his own" proved in
effectual, and Templeville still held to the
conviction that the estate owed it an ex-
PLANTATION.
In the meantime the long.deferred mar
riage had taken place, and Preston Tenn
pie took his wife from the old house at
the north end, where she, and two genera
tions before her, had been born, to the
old house at the south end, hardly less
familiar, and still filled with the re-
minder of his fathers busy and method
ical life. Preston Temple, grave and
silent man of thirty, but no more silent
than he had been from boyhood, sat in
his fathers great chair in the study, kept
the same office, under the elms in the side
| yard, and in every way seemed bent upon
reproducing the Judges life from day to
day. Hardly less able lawyer than his
father had been, his lines of practice re-
manned the same, and, in spite of the
doubt that at first hedged him about,
the feeling that he must in some way be
| responsible for the extraordinary provi-
sions of the will, confidence returned in
full, and the matter was declared simply
mystery, on which it would be folly to
spend more time or thought. The three
years he had spent abroad probably
held some offence that had decided the
Judges conduct, but there was no clue to
its nature, and the steady conformity to
routine, in his present life, showed that
the tendency, OF whatever nature, had
never taken deep root. Those who dealt
with him, and clients came from all
quarters, noticed one peculiar fact. If
ed it on the moment, and sent out who
ever happened to be assistant in the Of
fee to deposit it in the village bank
on his wife's account; if bills, the course
was the same, and he carried no money,
save the smallest amount of loose change
Supplies for the family came chiefly from
Boston, and any dealings in the village
were carried on entirely by young Mrs.
Temple, who retained that name, even
after the motherhad taken her place in the
old church-yard by the Judge, and her
l. oil
had been. She had never been beautiful,
yet more than one had felt that Mary
Aiexander's face would hold heaven for
the man she loved, and as the years went
on, the heaven made itself plain for all to
see. Why her clear eyes held just the
look that dwelt in them no one knew,
a look that seemed to mean yearning
and a compassion almost infinite, and
that watched quietly and steadily, some
struggle unknown to man, yet always
present. Nothing could have been more
decorous, more absolutely regular than
the life lived before all; and yet the con-
viction not only remained, but strength
ened, in the minds of every one that
revelation must, some day, come of life
long sorrow, silently borne; a struggle
having no end save in death. There were
no children after the baby who had had
barely year of life, and thus the devo-
ton between them had no interruption.
Even in his office hours she came and went,
his eyes seeking hers always, as if needing
some strength she had for him; and at
other times they were never apart, read
ing or walking together, and quite con-
tent without other society.
DR.. Gresham, who had come into the
neighborhood within few days, and had
heard in the beginning the various theo-
ries current in Templeville, watched him
with curiosity more professional than
neighborly. There we're hints of some
thing wrong, in the face, high bred, re-
served, even stern in expression; look
that might even have been called furtive
and shrinking at moments, yet not IN
natural in one who had known himself to
be the subject of continuous comment
for many years, and there was somthing
else, not yet defnable.
"Well kept as he seems, he looks to me
like a man who will go to pieces sudden
ly," the young doctor said to himself one
day in church, as he watched the fine